Means for joining together building units



Nov. 3, 1970 UKAIQQL-GUNNAR KROOPP Q 53 MEANS FOR JOINING TOGETHER BUILDING UNITS Filed Feb. 13, 1969 I O 2 SheeGs-Sheet 1 IHIIMUHIJ I j 'IIII'II'I'IA 1 h FIG. 2

INVENTOR KARL' GUNNAR KROOPP 5 4 @MLM (2 his ATTORNEYS I Nov. 3, 1970 KARL-GUNNAR KROOPP MEANS FOR JOININGv TOGETHER BUILDING UNITS Filed Feb. 16,1969

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m, 7 M, I I m INVENTOR v KARL- GUNNAR KROOPP BY- I ZMMXL dKQ IQWLI Q mJI A r TOR/V5 rs his United States Patent US. Cl. 287-54 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE As described herein, a coupling member is inserted in a building unit which is to be connected to another building unit. The coupling member includes a ram member formed with a longitudinal groove having a recess with 51a sloping plane surface. The sloping plane is obliquely positioned in the longitudinal direction of a screw which extends through an opening in the building unit and abuts the surface during the coupling operation.

The present invention is concerned with means for coupling together building units in the form of sections provided with skirts or grooves and which are mainly intended to be used for assembling structures to be used for exhibition and business purposes, temporary dwellings, erection of partitions, etc.

Building units for use in this connection are previously known and the requirements placed upon such units of this nature are mainly that they shall include as few parts as possible; shall be easy to handle, easily connected together and dismantled and, last but not least, they should be capable of providing a durable and stable structure even after having been erected and dismantled a number of times.

To fulfill the requirement of ease of handling the building units are usually designed in the form of light-metal sections or bars, which by means of special couplings can be assembled to form an easily dismantled structure.

The coupling means used for this purpose are usually eccentric couplings or screw couplings.

However, it has been found that present-day screw couplings, and perhaps to an even greater extent eccentric couplings, become less efiective after having been used a number of times, owing to deformation and wear on those portions of the bulding units which cooperate with the screw of eccentric coupling. Furthermore, the eccentric coupling tends to loosen if subjected to vibrations or other intermittently occurring loads.

The object of the present invention is to circumvent the aforementioned disadvantages and is directed to a coupling means comprising a member which functions as a-ram and which is intended to be placed within the open, end portion of the building unit, and a screw cooperating with said ram member, the one end of said screw being intended during the coupling operation to abut a surface in the form of a sloping plane arranged in the ram member and obliquely positioned in the longitudinal direction of the screw, and the other end of said screw being adapted to project into a hole arranged in the building unit.

The invention is mainly characterized in that the ram portion is provided with a longitudinally extending groove in which is slidably arranged a plate, provided with a threaded hole and in that the sloping plane cooperating with the screw of the coupling means is located in the bottom of the groove, whereby the slide plate is so dimensioned that its edges project in under a lip arranged along the longitudinal edges of the groove.

To reduce further the results of wear, to which the 3,537,736 Patented Nov. 3, 1970 hole in the building unit is subjected to upon repeated use of the coupling means, as a result of the screw abutting the edges of said hole, the hole in the slidable washer is, in accordance with the invention, extended with an internally threaded tube the length of which is so adapted that when the coupling means together with the ram member and the washer is inserted in position in the building unit the tube thus projects into the hole disposed in the building unit and thereby prevents the screw from coming into direct contact with the edge of the hole.

These and other characteristics of the invention will be described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal section of the coupling means together with the ram member and slide washer and associating screw, as well as portions of two building units coupled together by means of the coupling means according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows the coupling means in cross section along the line AA in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows the slide washer according to the invention in profile; and

FIG. 4 shows a section through the coupling means along the line BB in FIG. 1.

Finally, FIG. 5 shows an example of two parallel, longitudinally extending building units coupled together with two transversely extending elements by means of the coupling means according to the invention.

In FIG. 1 the coupling means 1 is inserted in a build unit 2 which is to be connected to another building unit 3. The coupling means comprises a ram member 4, a slide plate 5 and a screw 6 cooperating therewith. The ram member is provided at its one, outer end with a guide shoulder 7 intended to engage in a guide way on the building unit 3. The ram member is also provided with a longitudinally extending groove 8, which extends from the opposite end of the ram member, relative to the guide shoulder, to an abutment 9 situated directly behind the guide shoulder 7 in relation to the building unit 3.

A slide plate 5 is positioned in the groove 8 and is so dimensioned that its edges project in under a lip 10 arranged along the longitudinal edges of the groove 8. The end of the slide plate 5 adjacent the guide shoulder 7 is provided with a coil spring 11, which when the slide plate is in position abuts the abutment 9 of the ram member 4.

As can be seen from FIG. 3 the slide plate 5 is provided with an internally threaded tube 12, which is either welded to or forms an integral part of the plate 5 and which is placed concentrically with a recess in the slide plate and a similarly threaded hole 13.

When the slide plate is inserted in position in the groove 8, and the spring 11 abuts the abutment 9, the hole 13 and tube 12 are located over a recess 14 disposed in the bottom of the groove, said recess presenting a surface 15 in the form of a sloping plane obliquely positioned in the longitudinal direction of the screw 6. The tube 12 is so dimensioned that it projects up through a hole 16 disposed in the building element 2.

When the screw 6 is screwed in against the sloping plane 15 the spring 11 is compressed and thereby propels the plate away from the shoulder 9 on the ram member 4, but since the tube 12 projects up into the hole 16 the plate is held in position and instead the ram member 4 is drawn farther into the building unit 2. In that the guide shoulder 7 of the ram member engages in a guide way on the unit 3 to be connected to unit 2 the said unit 3 is drawn in towards the unit 2. When the screw 6 is loosened the spring 11 urges the ram member 4 outwards and the two building units can be dismantled.

The sloping plane 15 does not only cause a force to be exerted in the longitudinal direction of the ram member but also in the longitudinal direction of the screw 6. This force urges the plate away from the bottom of the groove 8, said plate being prevented from coming into direct contact with the inside of the building unit by the lip 10.

The tube 12, which projects into the hole 16 on the building unit, prevents the screw 6 from coming into direct contact with the edges of the hole, thus preventing deformation of the hole, as a result of the relatively high load to which the building units are subjected and as a result of wear due to repeated use of the coupling.

The present invention does not only provide for an effective coupling means but because of the special design of the coupling the material from which the building units are made may be considerably thinner than was previously the case.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the application of the invention when joining together two building units extending parallel to one another, said units, because of the special use to which they are put are called uprights and indicated by the reference numeral 17. The building units used for joining together said first mentioned building units are called distance bars 18 which are provided at each end with a coupling means according to the invention; only the projecting guide shoulder 7 being shown in the drawing. The distance bars are inserted in the open ends of the uprights so that the guide shoulder 7 on each coupling means engages respective uprights in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1. When the distance bars have been positioned in the desired manner the coupling means are tightened and a stable and durable structure is obtained, which can easily be dismantled when no longer required.

I claim:

1. A coupling means for connecting together building units, said means including a member functioning as a ram and which is intended to be placed within the open end portions of the building units, and a screw cooperating with said member, the one end of said screw being intended to abut during the coupling operation a surface in the form of a sloping plane positioned obliquely in the longitudinal direction of the screw, and the other end of said screw being intended to project into a hole disposed in the building unit; characterized in that the plunger is provided with a longitudinal extending groove in which a slide plate provided witha threadedholeis slidably arranged, and that the sloping plane cooperating with the screw of the coupling means is located in the bottom of the groove, the slide plate being so dimensioned that its edges project in under a lip arranged along the longitudinal edges of the groove.

2. A coupling means according to claim 1, characterized in that a tube concentrically arranged with the hole on the slide plate and which is welded to or comprises an integral portion of said plate is so dimensioned that when the plate is in position in the coupling means said tube projects into a hole arranged in the building element.

3. A coupling means according to claim 2, characterized in that the tube and the hole of the slide plate are provided with internal threads.

4. A coupling means according to claims 1-3, characterized in that the slide plate is provided with a coil spring which when the plate is in position in the coupling means abuts a shoulder located on the plunger.

5. A coupling means according to claims 1-4, characterized in that the sloping plane cooperating with the screw comprises a boring formed in the bottom of the groove.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,677,058 7/1928 Stein. 2,242,537 5/1941 Moore. 2,242,184 5/1948 Summers. 3,186,561 6/1965 Strassle. 3,410,584 11/1968 Bus 52-584X 3,437,362 4/ 1969 Oifenbroich 287124 FOREIGN PATENTS 936,988 9/ 1963 Great Britain.

DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner W. L. SHEDD, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

